Tokyo Rising: Japan Seeks Expanded Role in 'Global Defense and Security'

Moscow (Sputnik)
Feb 19, 2016

Despite its pacifist constitution, Japan plans to play a larger role in "global defense and security." The move comes amid pressure from the United States, and likely won't sit well with Japanese citizens already fed up with the administration's new military adventurism.

"The world faces growing security international threats and Japan wants to play a leading role in combating this," Keiichi Katakami, Japan's ambassador to the EU, said in Brussels this week.

"Japan and the rest of the world are facing fresh challenges by those who choose to use force and intimidation."

Katakami's comments refer partly to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent approval of a $41.4 billion defense budget. This marks the most Tokyo has spent on defense since the end of World War II, when Japan adopted a pacifist clause into its constitution.

That money will go toward acquiring new ship-borne interceptors, and the upgrading of two of Japan's existing Aegis ships. The government is also considering buying the land-based Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system from the United States.

Japan's Ministry of Defense has also compiled a hefty shopping list of new military hardware. This includes 11 AAV7 amphibious assault vehicles, 17 Mitsubishi SH-60K anti-submarine warfare helicopters, four Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, three RQ-4 Global Hawk drones, six F-35A Lightning II fighters, one Kawasaki C-2 military transport aircraft, and 36 new combat vehicles.

Tokyo's increased interest in military strength comes at the behest of the United States, which has urged Japan to play a more active role in combating China's growth in the Pacific. Speaking during the same Brussels briefing, Luis Simon of the Institute for European Studies stressed that "Japan is the cornerstone of US defense strategy and force posture in the Asia-Pacific."

"When it comes to security in the Asia-Pacific and, more specifically, in Northeast Asia, Japan and the US are concerned pretty much about the same issues," Simon said. "One issue is, of course, the growing nuclear and missile threat posed by the DPRK [North Korea].

"But arguably the broader, and more systemic geostrategic concern for the US-Japan alliance is the geopolitical and strategic rise of China and its potential to alter the balance of power in the region."

Washington has repeatedly criticized Beijing's construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea. While China maintains that it has every right to build within its own territory, and that the islands will be used primarily for humanitarian purposes, the US has launched aggressive military patrols through the region.

"In order to survive, the US-Japan alliance must adapt to the changing geostrategic landscape," Simon said. "This means a greater, joint effort in the realms of missile defense, undersea warfare and cybersecurity."

Not everyone agrees with the Abe administration's plans, however. Plans to expand the US military presence on Okinawa have been met with widespread protest. The island already hosts 32 American military facilities, enough to cover 20% of Okinawa's total landmass.

The government has also seen massive opposition to its passing of a controversial bill which allows Tokyo to deploy forces outside of Japan in an aggressive military posture. Approximately 40,000 people demonstrated against the bill outside of the parliament building last September.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Tokyo_Rising_Japan_Seeks_Expanded_Role_in_Global_Defense_and_Security_999.html.

Kiev demonstrators attack Russian banks

February 20, 2016

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Nationalist demonstrators in Ukraine have attacked two offices of Russian banks in the capital amid observances of the second anniversary of the protests that brought down the Russia-friendly president.

Demonstrators on Saturday threw rocks through windows at the offices of Alfa Bank and Sberbank and damaged furniture and equipment inside. Protesters also vandalized the offices of the holding company of Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov.

Tens of thousands of people in the Ukrainian capital came to various observances of the "Day of the Heavenly Hundred." The term refers to those who died during the months of protests in Kiev that culminated with President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing.

Saturday is the second anniversary of the bloodiest day of the protests, when more than 50 people died from sniper fire.

Another faction quits Ukraine's governing coalition

February 18, 2016

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Ukraine sank deeper into political turmoil Thursday as the governing coalition lost its majority in parliament after a second faction bailed out. The move by Samopomich (Self Help), which has 26 seats in the 450-seat parliament, leaves the coalition partners with 217 votes. Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's faction withdrew from the coalition a day earlier.

The failure to create a new majority coalition may lead to early parliamentary elections, something President Petro Poroshenko has sought to avoid, fearing it could further destabilize the nation. The two factions remaining in the coalition are led by Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. They have been uneasy partners, with members of Yatsenyuk's and Poroshenko's blocs engaging in fierce spats which have strained public patience and eroded the confidence of the West.

Some respected reformers have resigned recently, citing their disenchantment with the government's cronyism and corruption. Poroshenko has urged Yatsenyuk to step down amid economic troubles and political infighting, but the premier has refused to do so. Lawmakers failed to oust his Cabinet in a vote of confidence on Tuesday.

Samopomich leader Oleh Bereziuk said the botched attempt to dismiss the Cabinet marked was a victory for "kleptocracy and oligarchy." Poroshenko now needs to quickly attract new coalition partners in order to regain a majority and avoid snap elections. Oleh Lyashko, the leader of the Radical Party that has 21 seats and left the governing coalition last fall, signaled that it could move back in.

"We won't allow the country to be thrown into instability, chaos, lack of foreign support for reforms," Yatsenyuk said, adding that he would consult with Poroshenko, the Radical Party and others. Viktor Zamyatin, an expert with the Razumkov Center, a Kiev-based think-tank, said avoiding an early vote would be the top priority for Poroshenko. "New elections would trigger a new round of tensions inside the country and spook key Western creditors, the U.S. and the IMF," he said.

Yatsenyuk became prime minister after Ukraine's former Russia-friendly president was chased from power in February 2014 following massive street protests. Poroshenko was elected several months later with broad support and approval from Western leaders.

The White House said in a statement Thursday that Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Poroshenko on the phone and commended him and the government for the passage this week of anti-corruption legislation.

"The Vice President urged President Poroshenko to continue on this positive trajectory, to include successful implementation of the new legislation and continued visible progress on anti-corruption reforms," the statement said.

Ukraine has remained locked in conflict with Moscow, which annexed the Crimean Peninsula and has supported a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Fighting there has killed more than 9,000 people since April 2014 and devastated the nation's industrial heartland.

Last week, International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde threatened to halt the delivery of another installment of Ukraine's $17.5 billion aid package, which the country needs to keep the economy afloat.

Serbia: 2 hostages killed in US airstrikes in Libya

February 20, 2016

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Two Serbian embassy staffers held hostage since November died in Friday's U.S. airstrikes on an Islamic State camp in western Libya that killed dozens, Serbian officials said Saturday.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said there was no doubt that Sladjana Stankovic, a communications officer, and Jovica Stepic, a driver, were killed in the American bombing. They were snatched in November after their diplomatic convoy, including the ambassador, came under fire near the coastal Libyan city of Sabratha.

"Apparently, the Americans were not aware that foreign citizens were being kept there," Vucic told reporters. Speaking at a news conference in Belgrade earlier, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said information about the deaths was given to Serbia by foreign officials but had not been confirmed by the Libyan government.

"We got the information, including photos, which clearly show that this is most probably true," Dacic said. American F-15E fighter-bombers on Friday struck an Islamic State training camp in rural Libya near the Tunisian border, killing dozens, probably including an IS operative considered responsible for deadly attacks in Tunisia last year, U.S. and local officials said.

Dacic said Serbia had known where the hostages were and had been working to get them back, adding that Libyan troops were considering an operation to free them. "I believe we had been close to the solution for them to be freed. Unfortunately, as a consequence of the attack against ISIS in Libya, the two of them lost their lives," Dacic said. "We will seek official explanation from both Libya and the United States about the available facts and the selection of targets."

He said, according to the information received by the Serbian security services, a criminal group believed to be linked to IS had demanded ransom for the hostages, who they were holding at the site that was bombed.

"On the other hand, the American administration said it was an (ISIS) training camp," Dacic said. "This is information that has to be checked." He did not specify the amount of ransom demanded of the families, saying only it was "impossible to pay."

"It wasn't in the interests of the people who held them to kill them, because there were no other demands but financial," Dacic said. A Libyan armed group calling itself the Special Deterrent Forces announced on Facebook that the two bodies had been delivered to Tripoli's Matiga Airport. The group posted pictures showing two green coffins inside a hearse, and another of one of the coffins sitting on a tarmac next to a small plane.

The Special Deterrent Forces are loyal to the militia-backed government that now controls Tripoli. The group's posting did not indicate when the bodies would be flown to Serbia. In November, gunmen in Libya crashed into a convoy of vehicles taking Serbia's ambassador to neighboring Tunisia and then kidnapped the two embassy employees. Serbian ambassador Oliver Potezica escaped unharmed along with his wife and two sons.

"The attack happened when one of the embassy cars was hit from behind. When the driver came out to check what happened, he was dragged into one of the attackers' cars," Potezica told Tanjug news agency at the time.

Since the 2011 overthrow of Libya's longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi, the sprawling North African nation has fractured into warring camps backed by a loose array of militias, former rebels and tribes.

Libya's internationally recognized government has been forced out of the capital, Tripoli, and now operates out of the eastern cities of Tobruk and Bayda. Another government, backed by Islamist-affiliated militias known as Libya Dawn, controls Tripoli and much of western Libya. U.N.-brokered efforts to form a unity government continue to falter.

The chaos has provided fertile ground for Islamic extremist groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State group to flourish.

AP writers Jovana Gec, Ashraf Khalil and Maggie Michael contributed.

Kosovo opposition lawmakers block Parliament with tear gas

February 19, 2016

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Despite security checks at the entrance, Kosovo opposition lawmakers on Friday again used tear gas to block work from being done in Parliament to pressure the government into renouncing deals with Serbia and Montenegro.

The session, delayed for about 50 minutes, was temporarily suspended Friday after a tear gas canister was launched from opposition lawmakers' seats. A resumed session an hour later was suspended again for the same reason.

After the use of the tear gas for the third time, Speaker Kadri Veseli, himself wearing an anti-gas mask, could not keep his governing lawmakers from leaving the hall due to the gas. Then police forcefully brought out all opposition lawmakers. One of them, Albulena Haxhiu, fainted while trying to re-enter and clashed with policemen guarding the main entrance.

Veseli said the session will resume, despite the problems. Outside the Parliament a few hundred opposition supporters were gathered shouting anti-government slogans. Opposition lawmakers said they are determined not to allow normal operations at the Parliament, demanding the government's resignation and fresh elections.

Since September, the opposition has disrupted Parliament with tear gas, pepper spray, whistles and water bottles. They reject a deal between Kosovo and Serbia, reached last year, which gives more powers to ethnic Serbs in Kosovo. They are also against a border demarcation deal with Montenegro.

In December, Kosovo's Constitutional Court decided that part of the deal with Serbia was not in line with the constitution. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci of the governing Democratic Party of Kosovo said the government is determined to continue its daily agenda, considering the use of tear gas as "ugly."

"Opposition reaction may continue but they should get used to the idea that they cannot come to power by violence," Thaci said. Kosovo's Western backers have denounced the violence, calling on the opposition to resolve the political crisis in Parliament.

Kosovo's 2008 independence has been recognized by 111 countries, including the U.S. and major European Union nations. But it is rejected by Serbia, with support from Russia, which has blocked Kosovo from becoming a U.N. member.

Kosovo and Serbia are holding EU-mediated talks to try to overcome their differences.

Gresa Kraja in Pristina, Kosovo, and Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania, contributed to this report.

Greek, German, French leaders meet about migrant crisis

February 19, 2016

BRUSSELS (AP) — The leaders of Germany and France are meeting Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras amid growing worry about Greece's lack of control over thousands of migrants crossing its borders into the European Union every week.

Tsipras, Chancellor Angela Merkel and France's Francois Hollande are talking on the sidelines of a European Union summit in Brussels on Friday. Six hours of talks the night before highlighted still-deep divisions across the continent about how to deal with the EU's worst-ever refugee crisis.

Officials said leaders at Thursday's talks argued over conflicting national reactions to the migrant influx, and the potential collapse of Europe's border-free travel. The EU's executive Commission has given Greece three months to restore order on its borders, but few believe Athens will be able to meet the deadline.

What's in the historic agreement on the UK's place in the EU

February 20, 2016

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister David Cameron says a historic deal agreed by all 28 European Union leaders gives the U.K. "special status in Europe." The agreement, won after two days of wrangling in Brussels, makes changes in four areas where Britain sought a less intrusive relationship with the bloc. Here are the key points:

A LEVEL ECONOMIC PLAYING FIELD

Britain sought, and got, protections for it and the other eight EU countries that don't use the euro single currency. The leaders' agreement says moves by the 19 eurozone countries to bring their economies closer together are voluntary for the other member states, and stresses that businesses in non-eurozone countries must not face disadvantages within the EU's single market.

The deal also says financial regulation in non-eurozone countries is a matter for those countries' own authorities — a guarantee Cameron had sought for the Bank of England. Non-eurozone countries can also seek a debate in the EU if they think eurozone economic measures are a problem. Countries including France had warned that could give Britain an effective veto on eurozone financial decisions.

LESS MONEY FOR EU MIGRANTS

The EU leaders stressed that free movement of people is a key principle of the bloc. But because Britain's economy has been a magnet for hundreds of thousands of EU migrants in recent years, the U.K. is allowed to impose temporary restrictions on the benefits paid to EU workers in Britain.

After a tug of war between Britain and eastern European nations — who supply most of the U.K.'s migrants — it was agreed that new workers coming to Britain from the EU will have to wait four years before receiving benefits such as tax credits and child payments. The exemption lasts for seven years, less than the 13 years Britain had sought.

Child benefit payments for children who live in their parents' home countries will be indexed to the cost of living there, rather than to costs in Britain.

RULE BRITANNIA

The EU's treaty commitment to an "ever closer union" among the people of Europe is a particular bugbear for Britain, where politicians often raise the specter of a "European super-state." This new deal makes it explicit that "references to ever-closer union do not apply to the United Kingdom."

INCREASING COMPETITIVENESS

In one of the least-controversial sections of the deal, EU leaders vowed to strengthen the EU's internal market and improve regulation by lowering taxes and paperwork for small and medium-sized businesses and cutting red tape.